Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Central Mall Hero? (Part 1)

Don's answer, though the truth, seemed to come as a surprise as everyone looked at him skeptically, especially Commissioner Bateman, who proceeded to narrow his eyes at Don and ask, "Don't lie to me, son. I understand if you're a fan of Red Star here, but this isn't some small issue that you can lie about."

Don was a bit surprised to get this response, and it showed on his face as he looked at the commissioner with a bit of confusion as he replied, "I am being honest. Why would I need to lie about that?"

The commissioner shrugged his shoulders slightly and put his hands on his hips, slightly moving his trench coat out of the way as he leaned in to look at Don as if trying to read his face.

"Well, I don't know. You tell me. It could be that you're a fan of Red Star trying to get her out of the situation, or you think this is an opportunity to brag about being a hero.

These are far more believable than some child with no record of heroic deeds and with an evaluation of..." The commissioner paused as he said this and reached into his trench coat to take out a small data pad before adding, "D."

He then showed the screen to Don, which currently had a profile loaded. However, the image present was of him as a child, as that was the last time he had taken an evaluation for superpowers.

Don's silence was immediate, and the commissioner seemed to interpret this as being unable to refute the evidence he had shown. "You see? Now, please, the truth," the commissioner insisted.

Before Don could even give a reply, Samantha stepped forward and suddenly shoved the commissioner back. "Get away from my son!"

"Ma'am, you can't do that!" The police officer tried to step forward and grab her, but she quickly and aggressively waved him off with her hand, pointing at the commissioner as she angrily stated, "I've just about had enough with you people today. I've been a resident of this city all my life. My father helped build this city into what it is today.

I pay my taxes and I am an honest citizen who has never so much as shoplifted, and today my son and I nearly lost our lives because you and your department are so incompetent that you couldn't stop such a large-scale attack on the mall. I can only imagine how many people lost their lives or suffered trauma from the experience, me being one of them."

"Ma'am, please, I'm simply stating the facts and-," Commissioner Bateman tried to argue.

Samantha simply raised her voice. "No! you listen to me because you have no idea. You have no idea how hard it is to watch as a mother as your son helplessly fights against dangerous men to protect you. I can't even begin to think what could have happened to me if he wasn't there. At the same time, I can't even forgive myself for being so helpless as he nearly fought himself to death.

And here you are calling him a liar when it was you who failed to come here in time. Do you think after all this we want to brag to some news station about this disaster to protect her?" Samantha pointed at Red Star, her eyes now becoming watery as she shook her head. "Please, do not insult us because if that is all you called my son and me here for, then we will gladly leave."

Commissioner Bateman was now left speechless. Looking at the emotion with which Samantha spoke, one would find it very hard to think she was lying. Unable to come up with a response, he looked at one of the officers and then at Director Graham as if seeking help in tackling the situation.

The one to step up was Red Star, who simply looked at Don and asked, "How did you do it? Describe how you beat those four Green Thorns."

"You don't have to-," Samantha was about to reject this proposal, but Don interjected. "It's fine. It's better we get this over and done with now so that we're not bothered once we leave."

Samantha didn't argue with her son and simply glanced at Commissioner Bateman with a hateful gaze. Don, while looking at Red Star, began to recount the events that transpired within the store.

He carefully detailed his fight against the Green Thorns, including the injuries and damage he had taken. After he was done, he looked to the commissioner and added, "If you still don't believe me, you can confirm the state the paramedics found me in, unless you think I'm lying about that as well."

Don was also irritated by the way the commissioner spoke down to him. Right now, both he and Samantha were quite emotional for similar reasons--her because she couldn't protect her son and he nearly died, and him because he couldn't protect himself and nearly died.

Either way, they were both currently frustrated, and Commissioner Bateman's words didn't help.

After Don was done, Director Graham spoke up, "The child's story seems to match the injury report found on the Green Thorns. You could argue that he simply watched Red Star fight, but I think you and I both know that that isn't enough for someone to recount the scene so vividly and accurately."

The commissioner now had a complex look on his face as he brought his hands to his head and wiped off some of the sweat that was currently on it.

Don's story was now making sense, and it now made him look like an immense and uncaring prick, especially to the mother and son pair who had likely gone through a lot.

Thankfully for him, Red Star's curiosity prevented an awkward silence from falling as she asked Don, "How come you healed so quickly then?"

"Red Star, you're not supposed to--" The man with the spectacles tried to stop Red Star from asking this, but she ignored him as if he wasn't even there.

"Do not tell me what to do. If I killed a man, I'd have no problems taking responsibility. I'm also simply trying to confirm if the boy's story is true, and if it is, how come he looks to be in alright condition."

This time, before Don could answer, Samantha spoke up, having had enough of all this. "Enough! If you're still curious, the paramedics have the report. Now, if you're done harassing my son and me, we will be leaving. Or are we not allowed to?"

Samantha no longer looked like she was willing to hear out any more questions, and not even Red Star persisted, choosing to simply keep quiet as she, along with everyone else, looked at the commissioner for an answer.

He quickly replied, "No, no, I only wanted to confirm. Thank you and sorry for holding you and-."

"Let's go, Donnie." Samantha didn't even let the commissioner finish; she continued to hold Don's hand as they walked away from the scene. Samantha tried to leave quickly, but Don let out a groan. "Not so fast, I'm still a bit sore."

"Oh, sorry, Donnie. I just want to get away from this place as fast as possible."

"Yeah, me too." Right now, there were too many unknowns involved when it came to speaking with the individuals Don had just met, and he didn't want to risk anything.

But as they walked away, he couldn't help but look back at Red Star and wonder just how powerful she was.

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